The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026, the CBS television network announced in a surprise statement on Thursday.

The move “is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night [television],” and “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters,” CBS said.

The announcement comes just two weeks after CBS parent company Paramount settled a lawsuit with President Donald Trump stemming from a CBS interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris.

Host Stephen Colbert broke the news at a taping earlier on Thursday evening, triggering a chorus of boos from the live studio audience. “This is all just going away,” he said.

“I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners,” Colbert said, adding: “And of course, I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world.”

Colbert took over the CBS programme from David Letterman in 2015, and has become one of Trump’s staunchest critics on late night TV.